Blogs from San José, San José, Costa Rica, Central America Caribbean - page 7

Costa Rica's trip had to have been the most adventurous yet and the most memorable. Not only did we try new foods and experienced interacting with new people of different culture, but we were able to try hiking in Costa Rica and whitewater rafting. We went to Pacuare River in San Jose. We heard it was a great place to go whitewater rafting, and it was. Even if we weren't the best it was still the most fun trip yet. We also went to the San Jose Zoo. Everything was so beautiful, the animals, buildings, and nature. The they incorporated a historical type architecture in all the building. They had so many animals, and a large variety of birds. All so colorful too. Completely different from the seagulls, pigeons, and crows in the city.... read more

Marshall and I had an uneventful flight to San Jose, Costa Rica. We were pleased with our hotel where we have a ninth floor room that has floor to ceiling windows overlooking this city of 2 million people. We went for a walk in hopes of finding some great local cuisine. Instead, we found Pizza Hut, McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, KFC, and a strip club. Back at the hotel restaurant, we had a lovely meal while watching the soccer coverage. Since Costa Rica is still in the competition, there are Costa Rican flags flying from cars and businesses; the excitement is running high! We had a "group meeting" of the 41 people on this tour and received our instructions for tomorrow. I prefer to orchestrate my trips and travel independently instead of riding a bus around ... read more

Getting around Costa Rica often involves going in and out of San Jose, at least if you use public transport. We had two stays in the capital and on both occasions we stayed in a trendy art-deco hostel/guest house just off Parque National. The city is probably the most modern we have visited in central America and is heavily influenced by US culture with notable brands cropping up everywhere; Wendy’s, KFC, taco-bell, Wall mart and McDonalds to name a few. The city was bustling and feeling very vibrant during our visit; we were visiting during the Easter holidays which also coincided with the FIA14 International Arts festival and made for a busy and crowded, but fun experience; not ones to turn down a festival we got involved with a few of the events going on in ... read more

Our Arrival We arrived on the Tica Bus from Panama City. The Tica bus station is in a new building in the West of the City, not near the Supreme Court as our lonely planet said. It is on Avenue 3, transvera 26 near the other bus stations in the North West. There is a Tica Hotel in the bus terminal. We needed to book our TransNica bus to Mangua for the following day so we walked a couple of blocks to do this and the new Tica location was a lot handier. Where We Stayed Hotel el Dorado - just around the corner from the TransNica bus terminal on Avenue 5 Calle 22 Frene al Bar Pecos Bill. $24 for a double room with bathroom, hot showers and TV. We had a bus at 5am ... read more

Do not swim from the crocodile beach. Good advice, I think to myself, but the guide continued: “The next cove is ok, if you hear a whistle get out of the water!” Okkkkk, my hearing is up tp scratch and it IS boiling hot. So in I walking down the crescent shaped beach bordered by palm trees into the gentle waves and -- I’m still on this planet writing this. I’d been up very early to take a recommended tour of the beautiful Manuel Antonio Nature Reserve on the south Pacific side and not that far from the Panama border. By very early I do mean 6am meeting at the gates to the park. A group of us walked through the jungle keeping well to the marked trail heeding warnings of poisonous plants and snakes. Every ... read more